It is here hovering
over me, coming
inside me, filled
with inertia and
resistance as much
as a straight jacket.

I feel it there pushing
against my will to
do all that I desire
to do, and it tugs at
the self that I wish
to be, distorting what
I believe others think
about the person I am.

It is outside, inside,
grasping and holding,
pulling me back,
holding me down,
a weight without substance,
felt but unseen as a
creature that I resist
but can never defeat.

 

8/8/2023